English
4. Questions of Menanda 1. Chapter on the Power of Accomplishment 1. Question on the Fruitful Accomplishment 1. Then King Milinda, having been given the opportunity, bowed down, placed his hands together at his guru's feet, and said this: "Venerable Nāgasena, these sectarians say this: 'If the Buddha accepts offerings, then the Buddha, though fully extinguished, is connected with the world, is within the world, is common to the world. Therefore, the accomplishment made for him is not barren, it is fruitful. If he is fully extinguished, disconnected from the world, released from all existences, then no offering arises for him, the fully extinguished one accepts nothing. For one who accepts nothing, the accomplishment made is barren, it is fruitless.' This is a two-sided question, it is not a domain for those of undeveloped minds, it is a domain for the great ones. Break this net of views, establish it unequivocally. This question has come to you, give sight to future sons of the Jina for the refutation of others' doctrines." The Elder said: "The Blessed One, great king, is fully extinguished. And the Blessed One does not accept offerings. At the root of the Bodhi tree itself, the Tathāgata's acceptance ceased. How much more so for one fully extinguished in the element of Nibbāna without any remainder of clinging. This too, great king, was spoken by the Elder Sāriputta, the General of the Dhamma: "'Though worshipped, the unequalled ones, by gods and humans, they do not accept homage. This is the nature of the Buddhas.'" The King said: "Venerable Nāgasena, a son praises his father, or a father praises his son. This is not a reason for refuting others' doctrines. This is merely an expression of faith. Pray, explain to me the reason correctly for the establishment of our own doctrine, for the untangling of the net of views." The Elder said: "The Blessed One, great king, is fully extinguished. And the Blessed One does not accept offerings. Even though the Tathāgata accepts nothing, gods and humans, making the element-relic a basis, practicing rightly with the Tathāgata's jewel of knowledge as their object, attain three kinds of prosperity. "Y Then, great king, if a very great mass of fire should blaze up and then be extinguished, would that great mass of fire, great king, still desire grass and wood as fuel? "Even when burning, venerable sir, that great mass of fire does not desire grass and wood as fuel; how much less when extinguished, calmed, unconscious, does it desire them?" "But then, great king, when that mass of fire has ceased, has been calmed, is fire empty in the world?" "No, venerable sir, wood is not the substance of fire, its fuel. Whatever people desire fire, they, by their own strength, power, and energy, by their own personal effort, rub wood together and produce fire, and with that fire they perform fire-related tasks." "Then, great king, the words of the sectarians become false: 'What is done for one who does not desire is barren, fruitless.'" "Just as, great king, a very great mass of fire blazes, even so the Blessed One blazed with the glory of a Buddha in the ten-thousandfold world system. Just as, great king, a very great mass of fire blazed up and was extinguished, even so the Blessed One, having blazed with the glory of a Buddha in the ten-thousandfold world system, was utterly extinguished in the Nibbāna element without any remainder of clinging. Just as, great king, an extinguished mass of fire does not desire grass and wood as fuel, even so the desire for the welfare of the world has been abandoned, calmed. Just as, great king, when a mass of fire is extinguished, without fuel, people, by their own strength, power, and energy, by their own personal effort, rub wood together and produce fire, and with that fire perform fire-related tasks, even so, devas and humans, when the Tathāgata is utterly extinguished, though he does not desire, make his relic-jewel a basis, and by practicing rightly, with the Tathāgata's knowledge-jewel as their object, they attain the three accomplishments. By this reason too, great king, what is done for the Tathāgata, though he is utterly extinguished and does not desire, is not barren, but fruitful." "Further, Also, great king, listen to a further reason by which the service rendered to the Tathāgata, who has attained final Nibbāna, even though he does not desire it, becomes fruitful, not in vain. Just as, great king, a mighty great wind having blown, would cease, would that wind, great king, having ceased, desire to be reborn again? No, venerable sir, there is no intention or attention for the ceased wind to be reborn again. For what reason? That wind element is unconscious. But does the designation 'wind' depart from that wind, great king, which has ceased? No, venerable sir, palm-leaf fans and whisks are causes for the arising of wind. Whatever people are afflicted by heat, tormented by burning, they, by a palm-leaf fan or by a whisk, by their own strength, power, and energy, by personal human effort, generate that wind, and by that wind they extinguish the heat, they calm the burning. Therefore, great king, the words of the sectarians are false: 'Service rendered to one who does not desire it is vain, unfruitful.' Just as, great king, a mighty great wind blew, even so the Blessed One blew with the cool, sweet, peaceful, subtle wind of loving-kindness throughout the ten-thousandfold world system. Just as, great king, a mighty great wind having blown, ceased, even so the Blessed One, having blown with the cool, sweet, peaceful, subtle wind of loving-kindness, attained final Nibbāna in the Nibbāna element without any remainder of clinging. Just as, great king, the ceased wind does not desire to be reborn again, even so the desire for the welfare of the world is abandoned, calmed. Just as, great king, those people are afflicted by heat, tormented by burning, even so gods and humans are tormented by the burning and affliction of the three fires. Just as palm-leaf fans and whisks are causes for the generation of wind, even so the Tathāgata's relics and the jewel of wisdom are causes for the attainment of the three kinds of prosperity. Just as people afflicted by heat, tormented by burning, generating wind by a palm-leaf fan or by a whisk, extinguish the heat... ...they extinguish, they calm the feverish heat. Just so, gods and humans, even though the Tathāgata is fully extinguished, and does not desire it, by worshipping his relics and the jewel of wisdom, generate merit. With that merit, they extinguish and calm the feverish heat of the three fires of suffering. For this reason too, O great king, the veneration offered to the Tathāgata, even though he is fully extinguished and does not desire it, is not in vain, it bears fruit. "Furthermore, O great king, listen to another reason to refute the arguments of others. Just as, O great king, a man might strike a drum and produce a sound. If that drum sound, produced by the man, were to disappear, would that sound, O great king, desire to be produced again?" "No, venerable sir, that sound, having disappeared, has no desire or intention to be produced again. Once the drum sound is produced and disappears, that drum sound is utterly cut off. But the drum, venerable sir, is the condition for the production of the sound. Then, when the condition is present, a man, by his own effort, strikes the drum and produces the sound." "Just so, O great king, the Blessed One, having left behind the jewel of his relics, the Dhamma, the Vinaya, and his instructions, which are permeated by morality, concentration, wisdom, liberation, and the knowledge and vision of liberation, himself attained parinibbāna in the Nibbāna-element without any remainder of clinging. And when the Blessed One is fully extinguished, the attainment of blessings is not cut off. Beings oppressed by the suffering of existence, making the jewel of relics, the Dhamma, the Vinaya, and the instructions their condition, and desiring blessings, attain blessings. For this reason too, O great king, the veneration offered to the Tathāgata, even though he is fully extinguished and does not desire it, is not in vain, it bears fruit. "And this, O great king, was foreseen by the Blessed One for the future time. It was said, spoken, and declared: 'It may be, Ānanda, that you might think: "The Teacher is gone, we have no Teacher." But this is not so..." Ananda, thus it should be seen: That Dhamma and Vinaya which have been taught and laid down by me for you, Ananda, that will be your Teacher after my passing. When the Tathagata has attained final Nibbana, if he does not approve, any act of homage is barren, fruitless. That statement of those sectarians is wrong, untrue, false, a lie, contradictory, perverse, bringing suffering, resulting in suffering, leading to the lower realms. And further, great king, listen to another reason why, when the Tathagata has attained final Nibbana, even if he does not approve, an act of homage is not barren, but fruitful. Does this great earth, great king, approve, saying: 'May all seeds sprout in me'? "No, venerable sir." "Then why, great king, do those seeds, even though the great earth does not approve, sprout and become firmly rooted and matted, with strong trunks, branches, and widely spread, bearing flowers and fruits?" "Even though the great earth does not approve, venerable sir, it is the ground for those seeds, it provides the condition for sprouting. Those seeds, relying on that ground, by that condition, sprout and become firmly rooted and matted, with strong trunks, branches, and widely spread, bearing flowers and fruits." "In that case, great king, the sectarians are defeated in their own doctrine, destroyed, contradicted, if they say: 'When he does not approve, any act of homage is barren, fruitless.' Just as, great king, the great earth,